MLA 'sets woman ablaze'

Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Maharajganj Sadar, Sripat Azad, has been booked for allegedly setting a woman on fire. The police are conducting raids across the state to arrest the MLA. The police said the son of Savitri Devi, a widow of Rampur Buzurg village, lodged a complaint saying Azad poured

Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Maharajganj Sadar, Sripat Azad, has been booked for allegedly setting a woman on fire. The police are conducting raids across the state to arrest the MLA. The police said the son of Savitri Devi, a widow of Rampur Buzurg village, lodged a complaint saying Azad poured kerosene on his mother and set her on fire.

According to Savitri's son, the MLA was a frequent visitor to his house. "He came and went inside a room with my mother.

I heard them arguing over something.

Then I saw him picking up a kerosene container. He sprinkled it on my mother and set her ablaze," he alleged.

Strangely, Savitri denied that Azad tried to burn her and claimed it was an accident.

She is admitted to BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur with 70 per cent burns.

The woman, who is said to be in a relationship with Azad, said her son was a minor and did not know anything.

She said: "He (Azad) is innocent. Maybe, my son is under the influence of some rivals of the SP leader. There was kerosene in my kitchen which caught fire accidentally. I didn't notice when my sari caught fire." Savitri, however, admitted that Azad was present in her house when the incident took place.

Akhilesh Singh, a SP leader, claimed that Azad used to visit Savitri against the wishes of the villagers.

UP's Additional director-general of police Brijlal said: "Azad shouldn't have run away if he was really innocent. The police are conducting raids to nab him."

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